Bradley Smith of Great Britain and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rounds the bend during the MotoGP Tests in Valencia. (Photo: Getty Images)

Bradley Smith is extremely confident that he and new Monster Yamaha Tech3 team-mate Pol Espargaro will be in a position to achieve great things heading into the 2014 season.

At the first 2014 pre-season test, which came immediately after the final race of last year in Valencia, Smith ended proceedings in second position and just three tenths of a second down on Repsol Honda Team’s World Champion Marc Marquez.

McLaren has announced that Eric Boullier will take up the job of racing director on Feb. 3.

The former Lotus team principal will report to a new chief executive officer of McLaren Racing, who has yet to be appointed, and who will in turn report to Ron Dennis, who is head of the whole McLaren Group. In the interim, managing director Jonathan Neale will hold that position.

The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4×4 is one of six trim levels available in this midsize SUV model. (Photo: Courtesy of Jeep)

One of the things that this long, lousy winter reminds us of is that in some parts of the country, you simply have to have a tough vehicle that will take you nearly anywhere, no matter how brutal the conditions.

Enter the Jeep Grand Cherokee, or in the case of this week’s test vehicle, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4×4, one of six trim levels available in this midsize SUV model.